“I just don’t think the Senate ought to get into the middle of this,” McConnell said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “These guys will all slug it out in Iowa and New Hampshire. We’ll have a nominee hopefully by sometime in the spring.”

Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution states: “No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.”

Cruz, a constitutional lawyer, has maintained that he is eligible to be president, pointing out the distinction between natural-born and naturalized citizens.

The Senate previously issued a resolution confirming then-nominee John McCain’s eligibility to serve as president. The Arizona senator was born on a military base in Panama to American parents.